Attractive Indoor Mammal Exhibits
- Thread starter Taccachantrieri
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Taccachantrieri
Well-Known Member
Ha ha ha, now you know part of where I come from 
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Can you imagine how angry I am that the Calgary Zoo still seems enamored with PCL Maxim? There is even a PCL logo on some of the staff's uniforms
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PCL Maxim also constructed the Calgary Zoo's "Elephant Crossing" which is a pathetic indoor exhibit. I can not describe how ugly it is. Suffice it to say that it makes the Tropic World at Brookfield Zoo look incredibly naturalistic.
Wait... edit- I doubt a single thought was put into making this exhibit look naturalistic! Of course, the building itself has artistic flair, but why should I care about that
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!Can you imagine how angry I am that the Calgary Zoo still seems enamored with PCL Maxim? There is even a PCL logo on some of the staff's uniforms
!PCL Maxim also constructed the Calgary Zoo's "Elephant Crossing" which is a pathetic indoor exhibit. I can not describe how ugly it is. Suffice it to say that it makes the Tropic World at Brookfield Zoo look incredibly naturalistic.
Wait... edit- I doubt a single thought was put into making this exhibit look naturalistic! Of course, the building itself has artistic flair, but why should I care about that
!I've always been amazed that Nyhuis rated Tropic World higher than Jungle world or even Lied Jungle. It is so NOT in their league. The stories of animals and keepers cutting themselves on the metal "leaves" of the fake plants (because no live plants were allowed to be placed in the animal areas) have always astounded me. Let's see what the new edition of his Zoo book brings.....
Taccachantrieri
Well-Known Member
It is almost hard to believe that keepers and animals injure themselves on ugly fake plants that do nothing for humidity, pollution control, and Oxygen release. Why the %@^& did designers include them ?!
What I'm curious about is if the Brookfield Zoo learned from their mistakes and applied that towards Habitat Africa! The Forest. What is the indoor facility for this exhibit like? Of course, most of this exhibit is outdoors, so maybe they did that in light of the problems encountered with Tropic World.
?!What I'm curious about is if the Brookfield Zoo learned from their mistakes and applied that towards Habitat Africa! The Forest. What is the indoor facility for this exhibit like? Of course, most of this exhibit is outdoors, so maybe they did that in light of the problems encountered with Tropic World.
The indoor exhibit for Habitat Africa: The Forest is basically just an indoor viewing barn with darkened lights, "dramatic murals", "ambient sounds", real and fake vegetation, and some small animal exhibits. Mostly its for winter viewing of Okapi (2/3 of the building is off display holding), nothing to the extent of what has been discussed on this thread. I would compare it to the buildings of Cincinnati Zoo's Jungle Trails.
I would like to think that Brookfield learned from their mistakes when they built The Swamp and The Living Coast. I havent seen them myself, but from pictures they appear to have been designed better.
I would like to think that Brookfield learned from their mistakes when they built The Swamp and The Living Coast. I havent seen them myself, but from pictures they appear to have been designed better.
I think the decision to have no live plants in the animal spaces of Tropic world was pushed by the Zoo's vets and curatorial staff, who wanted a pathogen-free, "hoseable" environment. It's ironic that at the very same time, Woodland Park was creating a living forest for their gorillas. Tropic World initially only had a few skylights, on the north side of the building, so growing plants might have been impossible even if the animal managers had allowed it!
Habitat Africa: the Forest is not a whole lot better than Tropic World. A few more living plants, but mostly concrete, epoxy and fiberglass, in a very dark space. I was disappointed to look into their duiker exhibit and see an ugly green bathroom rug set underneath a concrete earthbank. Until I realized this was the only "soft" piece of furnishing in the entire exhibit--the poor duiker needed something comfortable to lie down on!
I forsee better things ahead for Brookfield though--several of their new top management came from the Bronx/WCS, and understand how lacking the current facilities are.
Habitat Africa: the Forest is not a whole lot better than Tropic World. A few more living plants, but mostly concrete, epoxy and fiberglass, in a very dark space. I was disappointed to look into their duiker exhibit and see an ugly green bathroom rug set underneath a concrete earthbank. Until I realized this was the only "soft" piece of furnishing in the entire exhibit--the poor duiker needed something comfortable to lie down on!
I forsee better things ahead for Brookfield though--several of their new top management came from the Bronx/WCS, and understand how lacking the current facilities are.
Generic response:
I think people's familiarity with wildlife greatly improved within last years. Mostly due to films featuring wild animal characters, Travel Channel and National Geographic. Until recently, few people could recognize e.g. gorilla from other monkey when seeing one.
Still, I think few zoo visitors (and most zoo exhibit builders) probably never seen real rainforest and have little idea how one looks like.
Spot on! Some zoos have taste, other not. I know a zoo who hired nature artist to paint backdrops in aviary. Result is impressive. Artist used lots of tricks, e.g. when you look at the bird, background blends giving you illusion of space.
Toddy - yes! But Burgers zoo and Masoala in Zurich are only two places which really replicate to me "this is how I felt like being in Brazilian rainforest". Jungle World and gorilla exhibit in Bronx zoo don't have it. Its still crowd of potted plants with some fibreglass details put between them.
My favorite are those few exhibits which replicate actual piece of Earth. Some are from decades ago, some are new. Once you see rainforest in Zurich or semidesert in Basel, you simply think of all generic rainforests and savanna paddocks as second class.
I think people's familiarity with wildlife greatly improved within last years. Mostly due to films featuring wild animal characters, Travel Channel and National Geographic. Until recently, few people could recognize e.g. gorilla from other monkey when seeing one.
Still, I think few zoo visitors (and most zoo exhibit builders) probably never seen real rainforest and have little idea how one looks like.
Spot on! Some zoos have taste, other not. I know a zoo who hired nature artist to paint backdrops in aviary. Result is impressive. Artist used lots of tricks, e.g. when you look at the bird, background blends giving you illusion of space.
Toddy - yes! But Burgers zoo and Masoala in Zurich are only two places which really replicate to me "this is how I felt like being in Brazilian rainforest". Jungle World and gorilla exhibit in Bronx zoo don't have it. Its still crowd of potted plants with some fibreglass details put between them.
My favorite are those few exhibits which replicate actual piece of Earth. Some are from decades ago, some are new. Once you see rainforest in Zurich or semidesert in Basel, you simply think of all generic rainforests and savanna paddocks as second class.
Taccachantrieri
Well-Known Member
One of the problems I have with Burgers Bush is where they do have mammals, like capybaras, the exhibits look just as uninspiring as those at most other Zoos.
On the other hand, it is amazing how well the plants grow in Burgers Bush
! They must get much more natural light than the majority of indoor rain forest displays.
The Burger Zoo indoor desert is well designed, except for the prepotent nature of the overhead glass panels relative to most indoor exhibit ceilings. Looking at pictures I find myself quite distracted by them. Here too, the mammal exhibits are considerably less attractive than the rest of the building, although the bighorn sheep enclosure does have great views overlooking the planted desert scene below and beyond.
On the other hand, it is amazing how well the plants grow in Burgers Bush
! They must get much more natural light than the majority of indoor rain forest displays. The Burger Zoo indoor desert is well designed, except for the prepotent nature of the overhead glass panels relative to most indoor exhibit ceilings. Looking at pictures I find myself quite distracted by them. Here too, the mammal exhibits are considerably less attractive than the rest of the building, although the bighorn sheep enclosure does have great views overlooking the planted desert scene below and beyond.